Croaking
by jrlrock
Summary: 'Maybe if he had watched where he was going. But he hadn't. Fran really pissed Bel off this time. Are they going to fight for real'  One-shot, contains fight. Takes place after Mammon's death and before Tsuna's death, if there is such a time.


All I have to say is this was written for a 'friend'.

And it kind of sucks…

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When he thought back to earlier that day, Fran wondered "What if I'd noticed earlier?" But of course, he _hadn't _noticed earlier, so it was irrelevant.

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After trading insults with the so-called prince Bel one day, Fran had wandered through the Varia Mansion. Reaching his hand up every once in a while to pull a knife from his monstrosity of a hat was the only thing he'd done throughout his hike.

So absorbed in his thoughts of new insults to use on his senpai, Fran didn't even notice his surroundings. Once more he reached a hand to his hat, pulling a knife free of the fabric. He bent the knife and tossed it, muttering "Stupid thing," as if he blamed the knife.

Fran didn't even bother to look at the knife, knowing -or more like hoping- that the knife would end up on the ground, and hopefully not in his foot. When the knife should have hit the ground with a dull thud, Fran heard a sharp clang of metal against some surface that was definitely not soft grass. He looked up in surprise.

Fran looked around, taking in his surroundings, which was mainly the Varia Graveyard. "So that's…Mammon's grave?" Fran said, taking in the realization that the recklessly tossed knife had hit the grave of Mammon, his predecessor. After hitting the elegant tombstone, the knife had bounced and finally landed with the expected thud on the ground, right above where the Arcobaleno's tiny body laid. Fran looked around hurriedly for anyone who would care about him dropping a knife on the baby's grave, but nobody was around. He reached for the knife when another, larger hand dropped over it.

Fran blinked, stunned once more, and looked up. What he saw was a line of blond bangs held in place by a 'crown'. That could only mean one thing. "B-Bel?" Fran cried, stumbling backwards onto the ground. Nobody had been anywhere close to him fifteen seconds ago, he would've sworn it! And yet…

Fran looked at his senpai's face. Bel was not smiling. He wasn't grinning, nor was he "Ushishishi" ing. He didn't look remotely humorous. But Bel wasn't quite serious, either. If Fran was right, Bel was furious.

"Bel?" Fran tentatively questioned the older of the two. Bel tilted his head, looking at the teal haired boy calmly.

"Yes?" Bel responded quietly.

"You're…staring at me…" Fran muttered. Bel backed away, putting more distance between them.

The older one looked at the knife now clutched in his hand. "You dropped this on Mammon's grave, without a care in the world. Without even a small amount of respect for the deceased Arcobaleno," Bel said quietly.

"I-I didn't mean to!" Fran sputtered. Bel looked at his kouhai. The unnerving gaze of the psychopath killer was stationed on Fran.

"I'll slice you up," Belphegor said, and it was obvious from the moment that he said the words that he meant them.

Fran jumped to his feet, backing away quickly. Turning from the Prince, he ran as fast as he could. Seventeen knives pierced his back, and he stumbled, but continued running. He heard Bel's footsteps chasing right behind him. Three feet behind him, two and a half feet behind him, one and a half feet behind him, a foot behind him, half a foot behind him. And then a hand was on his shoulder.

Bel grabbed the boy's shoulder, turning him around and punching him straight in the face. It hurt more than all of the knives in his back. It hurt more than Mukuro's spear through his head.

Desperately attempting to create an illusion to help himself get away, the boy clutched his face in pain. "Ne, Bel-senpai, your punches are weak," Fran said. He tapped his head thoughtfully and then continued with "Though I couldn't really expect any better from a fake prince." Sometimes he wondered what was wrong with him, provoking his senpai at a time like this.

Bel swung, not threw, but actually swung a knife at him. Fran did something he never thought he'd do and reached inside his jacket for a box. Grabbing his ring and slipping it on, he created a flame and plunged the ring inside the box.

Immediately a miniature Bel popped out of the box, deflecting the knife and whining some complaint. Fran cursed quietly. Though it had done the job, that was **not **the box weapon he had meant to use. He rummaged around the inside of his jacket while Bel stared at his box weapon. Finally pulling out another box, Fran used it just as Bel recovered from the oddity of the box weapon Fran had used just a second ago and swung at him with the knife again.

This time a big grey toad that greatly resembled his hat popped out. Fran ducked behind the frog, and then called it back to the box, cursing yet again. Finally pulling his last box from his jacket, Fran punched the box with his ring.

In a cloud of mist flame, a long and beautiful trident emerged. Fran jumped forward a bit and grabbed the trident, holding it in front of himself. He grabbed onto the trident with his other hand and blocked Bel's knife. Bel's expression did not change.

_Oh shit. _Fran though. _He wants to kill me. How fun._

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Knife thrown. Knife blocked with trident. Knife pulled back around with wire. Knife cutting teal haired boy.

Teal haired boy blocking a knife. Teal haired boy not responding to knife cutting into back. Teal haired boy attempting to stab so-called prince.

So-called prince dodging attack. So-called prince jumping away from another attack. So-called prince throwing knife.

Knife thrown. Knife blocked with trident…

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Soon, with Bel barely having made any moves and Fran with blood finally flowing from numerous cuts, Fran realized that he was going to lose. Though the staff had given him some time, Bel was fueled by an unending anger. Bel jumped forward and grabbed the younger one by the collar, throwing him at the gate to the Graveyard.

Fran's back slammed painfully against the gate. He winced, taking in his current situation. _Too much blood lost. In pain, lots of pain. Am in too much pain to create an illusion, because it's difficult to create illusions while in pain. With Bel the way he is now, chances of escape are nonexistent. What to do…? _Fran thought, clutching his bleeding head.

Bel walked forward, all sane thoughts long since gone. He grabbed Fran's collar once more, lifting him high off the ground until they were eye level. Then Bel's free hand, curled into a fist, appeared. The fist slammed into his face once…twice…three times…continuing until Fran lost all sense from the pain. He tried to concentrate, asking himself simple questions.

_What time is it? Pain. Where am I? Pain. What's going on? Pain. _Fran found it impossible to distinguish the reality from the pain, but wasn't that his job? To separate reality from illusion, or in this case, pain? Mukuro would be pissed at him. Oh well. The trident given to him by his master had long since slipped from his grasp.

Placing his palms against the barbed wire on the gate, Fran ignored the pain and grasped the wire. He pulled it free and used it to block Bel's next punch. Bad move, as Bel just pulled his hand free of the wire and punched again. His hand hit the wire; he pulled back, and punched again.

Fran stared with wide eyes. His senpai wasn't even sane anymore. Bel was just ignoring the pain and the blood streaming from his hands. The only thing that mattered to him was the next punch. Fran pulled the wire away and a fist immediately made contact with his face. Fran put a hand to his face and when he pulled away, his hand was covered in blood. The next swing went toward him and Fran caught the fist just an inch away from his face.

"Bel!" Fran shouted. Bel actually looked at him for the first time since Fran had dropped the knife.

"It's Bel-_senpai_," Bel said, releasing his grip on Fran's collar, turning, and walking away.

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And now, back to the beginning and Fran wondering about if he'd noticed his surroundings. Fran grabbed the gate and pulled himself to his feet. He walked toward the kitchen, wondering why Bel hadn't freaked out at the sight of his 'princely' blood. Fran finally reached the kitchen. He turned to see that a trail of blood had followed him.

"My! Franny, what did you do?" Lussuria said gaily. (Hehe, pun.)

"Oh, nothing. Just nearly got murdered by fake prince senpai…" Fran said, monotone back in place. Lussuria summoned his peacock and used it to heal Fran as much as he could. Fran nodded his appreciation and headed toward his room.

_This whole jacked up castle is so weird. _Fran thought to himself as he walked down the hall. _Bel, for instance. Why did he just walk away? _Unable to cope with the peculiarity that was his senpai, Fran gave up on the whole issue. _Next time…I'm watching where the hell I go._

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And that's the end.

Review?


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